John Delafield

John Delafield (March 16, 1748 – July 3, 1824) was an English-American businessman and diplomat. Known for his 1783 delivery of the Treaty of Paris, Delafield would settle in New York City, achieving further financial prosperity there.

Early life Delafield was born in England on March 16, 1748, in Cripplegate, London. He was the son of John Delafield (1714–1763), an affluent cheese merchant, and Martha ( Dell) Delafield (1719–1761). Among his siblings were Joseph Delafield, Martha Delafield (wife of William Arnold and mother of Dr. Thomas Arnold), and William Unsworth Delafield (who died in West Bengal, India in 1771), among others. His maternal grandparents were John Dell and Susannah ( Farnborough) Dell.

Career Delafield was among the first Englishmen to settle in America as the Revolutionary War came to a close. Arriving in New York City in the spring of 1783, while it was still under British control, he brought with him the first copy of the provisional treaty of peace between the United States and Great Britain.

John Delafield III (1786–1853), who married Harriet Wadsworth Tallmadge, a daughter of his uncle, Benjamin Tallmadge, from his first marriage to Mary Floyd (a daughter of signer William Floyd). Joseph Delafield (1790–1875), who married Julia Livingston, a daughter of Maturin Livingston and Margaret Lewis Livingston (only daughter and heiress of Gov. Morgan Lewis). William Delafield (1792–1853), a merchant. Henry Delafield (1792–1875), a merchant who married Mary ( Parish) Monson, a daughter of Penn Parish and widow of Judge Levinus Monson, in 1865. Richard Delafield (1798–1873), who married Harriet Baldwin Covington, a daughter of Gen. Elijah Moorman Covington, in 1833. Rufus King Delafield (1802–1874), who married Eliza Bard, the daughter of William Bard, in 1836. Susan Maria Delafield (1805–1861), who married merchant Henry Parish, a son of Jacob Parish and brother to Daniel Parish.

His summer residence, on 140-acres, built in 1791 on the East River opposite Blackwell's Island, was known as" Sunswick" and was one of the largest and best appointed private houses near New York.

He died on July 3, 1824, at the age of 76.